1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a machine control system comprising a controller that controls a machine such as an industrial robot or an NC machine tool, and a display device which displays the operation information of the machine.
2. Related Art
In a machine control system comprising a machine such as an industrial robot or an NC machine tool and a controller that controls the machine, a display device which can display various types of operation information necessary for an operator to operate the machine or the controller, for example, a teaching operation panel, is provided. The display device is used when the operator teaches the machine an operation. Namely, the operator actually operates the machine using the display device, and the operation of the machine at that time is stored on the controller. Accordingly, the display device is provided with an input unit to input data necessary to operate the machine with respect to each piece of operation information. Such a display device may use, for example, a touch panel liquid crystal display (LCD).
There are various types of operation information displayed on the display include, for example, a parameter table or a program list allowing the input or change of data necessary for operating the machine or the controller.
Such a display devices first prompts the operator to enter their identification information (ID). Then, if the input identification information is one that has previously been stored in the controller connected to the display device, the controller reads the parameter table or program list, etc., out of the storage area of the controller and displays the same on the display device. Accordingly, only the specific operator assigned with the identification information is able to input or change data using the input unit with respect to the parameter table or program list displayed on the display device.
Various inventions have been proposed which operate a device in response to identification information of an operator. For example WO 2005/099971 discloses an autonomous robot which obtains various types of information, such as identification information of a memory card, information related to an operator, or the history of the operator contacting the robot and acts based on the obtained information.
The invention disclosed in WO2005/099971 has the function of identifying an operator but is not provided with the function of changing the screen displayed on the display device. In contrast thereto, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-243472 discloses a display device capable or identifying an individual operator and switching the display screen in accordance with the qualifications or the physical condition of the operator; and an industrial robot provided therewith.
In a factory, a plurality of machines and a plurality of controllers which control the respective machines may be provided and a display device may be connected to each of the controllers. In such cases, it is desirable that with respect to each of the display devices connected to the respective controller, an appropriate screen corresponding to the operator using the display device is displayed. However, in order for this to be realized, in the invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-243472, the following problem arise.
Namely, in the invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-243472, it is necessary to store operator identification information and an appropriate screen for the operator in association with each other in the storage region of the controller. As a result, for each controller connected to a display device, in order to display the appropriate screen for the operator using the display, the above storage operation must be carried out on each of the controllers, which requires time and effort. In other words, if an operator wants to display the information on a screen stored in a certain controller on a display device connected to a different controller, the operator must carry out the aforementioned storage operation from the start on the different controller.